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Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1990, Side 48

Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1990, Side 48
of Filarioid nematode Dipetalonema spirocauda (Leidy, 1858) from the heart of captive harbor seals and sea lions, together with pathology of the host. Journal of Parasitology 47. 971-976. Weber, A. 1988. Helminthen im Ga- strointestinaltrakt des Seehundes (Phoca vitulina). Óprentuð námsritg. Zoologisches Institut der Christian - Al- brechts - Universitat zu Kiel, V-Þýska- landi. 106 bls. Wesenberg-Lund, E. 1952. Acanthocep- hala. The Zoology of Iceland Vol. II, Part 16. Ejnar Munksgaard, Copen- hagen og Reykjavík. 6 bls. Wiilker, G. 1930. Úber Nematoden aus Nordseetieren I. Zoologischer Anzeiger 87. 293-302. SUMMARY Parasites of seals in Icelandic waters, with special reference to the heartworm Dipetalonema spirocauda Leidy, 1858 and the sucking Iouse Echinopthirius horridus Olfers, 1916. by Kart Skírnisson Institute for Experimental Pathology University of Iceland, Keldur P.O.Box 8540 IS-128 REYKJAVÍK Iceland and Erling Ólafsson Icelandic Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 5320 IS-125 REYKJAVÍK Iceland During the period October 1988 to Ja- nuary 1990 various samples were collected from 15 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), two grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and one ringed seal (Pusa hispida) killed in Icelandic waters. The heart, lung and in- testines were studied for the presence of parasites. Three parasites, which have not been previously recorded from Iceland, were identified, the fourth species, a cestode from the intestine of two harbour seals could not be identified due to the absence of the scolex. The nematode Otostrongylus circumli- tus Rudolphi, 1899 was found in the lung of a six month old harbour seal from Dýrafjörður, NW-Iceland. The acanthocephalid Corynosoma se- merme Forsell, 1904 was found in the small intestines and colons of four har- bour seals and one grey seal from the west coast of Iceland. The nematode Dipetalonema spirocau- da Leidy, 1858, a common parasite of the heart and pulmonary artery of harbour seals in the northern hemisphere, was found in three of 15 harbour seals (20%) but the parasite burden was low with only 1 to 8 nematodes found in each seal. A re- cent study of the life cycle of D. spirocau- da has shown that the larval stage of this parasite matures in the seal louse Echi- nopthirius horridus Olfers, 1916 (Geraci et al. 1981). There were no records of the seal louse in the present sample. How- ever, E. horridus had been recorded once from Iceland when 10 lice were found on the snout of a harbour seal pup in Breiða- fjörður, W-Iceland in the spring of 1985. A general description is given of the biology, life cycle and adaptations of the heartworm and the seal louse as well as the damage these parasites can cause. A list of 12 parasites until now recorded from harbour seals, grey seals and the four species of vagrant seals (ringed seal, bearded seal, hooded seal and Greenland seal) in Icelandic waters, is given in Table 1. 102

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